1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an acoustically damped component preferably for a vehicle, an engine, a transmission or a vehicle trim panel comprising a flat basic body which is provided on at least one side at least in regions with a rib structure, the ribs of the rib structure forming chambers and the chambers being arranged irregularly on at least one region of the component.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,141 teaches a wall element which is provided with a lattice structure and forms a highly rigid and greatly noise-damped component with a low additional material requirement. Here, the wall element is of particularly rigid construction as a result of the lattice structure, the ratio of rib height plus basic-body thickness to basic-body thickness being greater than 4 and, at the same time, the ratio of chamber inner-side length to the rib thickness is between 4 and 14. U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,141 aims at increasing the rigidity and therefore influencing the resonance amplitude ratio of the component as a result of the design of the rib system. A reduction in the noise emissions can be achieved merely to a restricted extent by the strategy of component reinforcement.
An object of the present invention is the development of an acoustically damped component preferably for a vehicle, an engine, a transmission or a vehicle trim panel in such a way that the noise emission of the system which is provided with the acoustically damped component is modified and/or reduced significantly. Furthermore, in addition to a targeted change in the noise characteristic, it is an object of the invention to achieve increased mechanical protection of the acoustically damped component.